How does Macbeth’s tragic downfall reinforce the importance of not committing regicide?

Shakespeare utilises the tragic downfall of Macbeth in Macbeth, to display the cruel consequences that arise when an individual commits
regicide, acting against Divine Rights, The Great Chain of Being, and God. By exploring the Jacobean World View, superstitions, as well as
the characterisation of Lady Macbeth, the audience is able to understand how evil ultimately derives from ambition, and how these
ambitious deeds will lead to regicide.

As the play is set during the Jacobean Era, Shakespeare includes elements of the Jacobean World View, specifically the Great Chain of Being
and Divine Rights, to reflect upon the devastating impacts of regicide on society when everything is following the natural order, signifying
the importance of not committing regicide. Shakespeare immediately introduces us to the Great Chain of Being, with three witches
chanting ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair://Hover through the fog and filthy air’, in which the rhyming couplets foreshadow how good will soon
become evil, and vice versa. By mixing around good and evil, the oxymoron creates a sense of confusion, suggesting that chaos will soon
happen due to the destruction of the Great Chain of Being. This highlights how regicide is acting against the Great Chain of Being, and
leads to disruption. Furthermore, as Shakespeare utilises ‘All’ of the witches to perform this line, the Greek Chorus Convention provides the
role of driving the plot, actions, and events throughout Macbeth to the three witches, which emphasises their power and reveals their
ability to curse those who commit regicide. Alternatively, the characters in Macbeth, are all illustrated as loyal to the king, due to their
belief in Divine Rights (that God had chosen the King himself, and messing with the King was messing with God) and a theocentric world.
This is demonstrated when Macbeth devotes his loyalty, attempting to build trust with King Duncan in, ‘Your Highness’ part//Is to receive
our duties: and our duties//Are to your throne and state’. Shakespeare uses the enjambment to indicate how these beliefs of a theocentric
world and the existence of Divine Rights effectively maintained their natural order, and prevented the usurpation of the king. As Macbeth
was written after the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, Shakespeare intentionally warns the audience that the King’s authorities should never be
challenged. Furthermore, the repetition of ‘our duties’ emphasises Macbeth’s desire to fulfill the King’s duties, reinforcing the order that
the Great Chain of Being has created. Hence, the recurring themes (Great Chain of Being, theocentric world, Divine Rights) which were
evident in the Jacobean World View serve as a constant reminder in Macbeth to the consequences of regicide, signifying the importance of
following the rules.

Shakespeare utilises the role of superstitions, as well as the supernatural, to add depth and provide more detailed consequences of
regicide, which prevents the audience from doing so. The witches’ prophecies, supernatural abilities, and the concept of fate throughout
the play all play a significant role which influences Macbeth’s actions. As he follows the prophecy and attempts to kill King Duncan, the
natural order of their world starts sending superstitious signs to Macbeth, illustrated through his dagger soliloquy ‘Is this a dagger which I
see before me,//The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee’. The hypophora gives the audience an indication of Macbeth’s
descent to madness as he starts to hallucinate. Shakespeare highlights how the superstitions’ influence has caused Macbeth’s loss of sanity,
and that there will be even more severe consequences if he choses to continue his evil deeds—regicide. The witches’ chant ‘Double,
double, toil and trouble//Fire, burn; and caldron, bubble’ similarly accentuates the power of the supernatural and their influences over
Macbeth. The rhyming couplet provides us an insight into Macbeth’s downfall as the superstitions will come after him. The repetition of
‘double’, as well as consonance further enhances the supernatural effect, which again highlights the forces of evil superstitions and karma
that will find those who commit regicide. Furthermore, the repetitive use of pathetic fallacy throughout the play, which Shakespeare
demonstrates as Stage Directions ‘Thunder and Lightning’ and ‘Thunder’ foreshadows upon the chaos and disruption that will occur
ultimately due to the regicide and destruction of natural order which follows. Thus, Shakespeare embeds the supernatural and other
superstitious beliefs within Macbeth to convey the force of evil power they hold, which will inflict on those who disobey the natural order
of the universe and commit regicide.

Lady Macbeth’s characterisation as a manipulative and sinister woman also plays a pivotal role in Macbeth’s tragic downfall, reinforcing the
consequences of regicide whilst warning the audience to not manipulate others in doing so, as it too brings demise. Shakespeare cleverly
crafts Lady Macbeth as a brutal woman with the desire to commit cruel acts in order to achieve what she wants—the crown, which is
evident in the metaphor ‘unsex me here,//And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full//Of direst cruelty!’. This reflects upon the
audience’s perception of women, as they are supposedly the weaker sex with the inability to commit cruel acts. However, Lady Macbeth is
quite the opposite, as she illustrates her desire for power and willingness to exchange her feminine qualities for the crown. This is similarly
achieved in ‘that I may pour my spirits in thine ear’, where the allusion to Shakespeare’s play ‘Hamlet’ where Lady Macbeth reveals her
desires to manipulate Macbeth into committing regicide. The metaphor ‘pour my spirits’ further suggests her intent to implant her own
desires and thoughts into Macbeth’s mind, hence manipulating his actions. However, her confidence and behaviours are contrasted with
her slow descent to madness, which is hinted in ‘Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so//much blood in him?’. The
dramatic irony suggests that her growing guilt and distress has caused her to collapse both emotionally and mentally, and foreshadows
how it will continue to haunt her. On the surface, Lady Macbeth may appear to be in control with blazing confidence, however, secretly
underneath she is battling the gruesome reality of her involvement with Macbeth’s regicide. Shakespeare creates this sense of appearance
versus reality to comment on how these effects of regicide have caused both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to face harsh consequences.
Hence, Lady Macbeth’s portrayal warns the audience that those involved with regicide, despite being manipulated or the manipulator, will
equally face the same dire consequences.

In essence, the tragedy of Macbeth, which was framed with Lady Macbeth’s sly manipulation, the Jacobean World View, as well as the evil
forces of evil from the influence of superstitions, solidify the audience’s understanding of regicide—something that none shall dare to ever
commit. Shakespeare demonstrates a range of severe consequences when tampering with the natural order of the world to the audience,
which reinforces the significance of avoiding regicide.